"I appreciate the opportunity to just say thank you to everybody for your thoughts and prayers," Johnson said in a brief interview session before practice for NASCAR's premier series began at Texas Motor Speedway. "This week has been very difficult for the Janway family. It's been so tough for myself to sit back and watch the people I love deal with so much pain.

"Things are progressing, and everybody is as good as you can hope. Last night, the family spent a lot of time telling stories about Jordan and smiling a little bit. Smiling instead of tears. The healing process has definitely started.

"I just wanted to come in and make a brief comment before we got busy racing and then try to switch my mind into this racing reality and focus the next couple days on going racing and just go try to win. The few times I did check into social media, there's just been a huge outpouring of support and I'm very thankful."

Janway, 27, was a younger brother of Johnson's wife, Chandra.

He was a skydiving instructor with more than 1,000 jumps. TV stations in San Diego reported that he apparently collided with another skydiver while practicing a maneuver and was knocked unconscious and unable to deploy his chute.

"He was a free spirit," Johnson said. "A very adventurous guy. Base-jumping and parachuting and wearing the squirrel suits, like you see the guys flying along the cliff sides, that's what he did. He's in a lot of those videos shooting that footage. (It's a) tragic death, for sure. But he was doing something he loved. He was very passionate about it. (He) never met a stranger. A very warm, caring young man, and he's definitely going to be missed."

Johnson won the most recent race at Texas, dominating last November's AAA 500 by leading 255 of 334 laps in his No. 48 Chevrolet in the sixth and final victory of his sixth championship campaign.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who hasn't won yet this season, doesn't have any special tributes planned to Janway on his car yet.

"I haven't thought that far ahead for the car or helmet or anything," Johnson said. "It's been such a wild and crazy week. But now that my mind is switching into race mode, I'll certainly take a look at it."